OFF CENTER

ABOUT US

Off-Center is managed by a core team that collaborates with fresh performers every season. Using our recipe, we're able to blend together new art forms with theatre to surprise our audiences and push what we're capable of creating. We'd love to meet you – say "hi" the next time you come to a show!

Our Recipe

Everything we do is guided by the five ingredients below, mixed to taste:

Immersive

Extending the experience before, during and after the show and beyond the traditional performance space

Audiences influence and interact, they don’t just watch

Convergent

Incorporating a variety of art forms

New and unexpected uses of technology to engage (not isolate) the audience

Connective

Building community

Collaborating with and fostering local talent

Inventive

A lab to test new forms, ideas and technologies

Challenging the rules, formalities and definitions of theatre

Now

In conversation with pop and Internet culture

Centered around the work of current artists

The Off-Center story begins in 2010. Searching for opportunities to experiment with new kinds of work, different kinds of artists, and new ways to engage with audiences, the DCPA applied to participate in the Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts. Following an eight-month process that included an intensive retreat and awesome opportunities to connect with and learn from other adventurous minds in the theatre field, we knew we were on to something.

We laid out a vision for the types of new theatrical experiences we wanted to create and articulated it in the form of a Recipe – our guiding principles for what makes a show “Off-Center.” Not long afterward, Off-Center hosted our first prototype public performances in 2011, led by co-founders Charlie Miller and Emily Tarquin. View full production history.

Since then, Off-Center’s role at the DCPA has expanded from a small theatrical test kitchen to a fully-fledged, signature line of programming. We now produce and present several Off-Center shows a year, from one-night-only, once-in-a-lifetime events to long-running shows both in and out of the theatre. Our team has been recognized as national leaders, and we have presented at numerous conferences across the US and Canada including the National Innovation Summit for the Arts, Theatre Communications Group (TCG) National Conference, TCG Audience (R)Evolution, National Arts Marketing Project, and Denver’s Imagine 2020 Speaker Series.

DCPA is the nation’s largest not-for-profit theatre organization dedicated to creating unforgettable shared experiences through beloved Broadway musicals, world-class plays, educational programs and inspired events. We think of theatre as a spark of life — a special occasion that’s exciting, powerful and fun. Join us today and we promise an experience you won't soon forget.